Re-Discover the Stars and Glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age with the Sonja Henie Biopic
SONJA: THE WHITE SWAN
and Eight Other Silver Screen Icons
Now available digitally on Kino Now
Re-discover the Classics on Kino Now…
One of the world’s greatest athletes and the inventor of modern figure skating, Sonja Henie lit up both the ice rink and the silver screens with equal flair. The lithe 5 foot 1 inch blond Norwegian spitfire was already a decorated Olympic champion by the time she headed for Hollywood in 1936 where she became one of its highest paid stars after being signed with Twentieth Century Fox. The following year, her films were selling the most tickets in the world.
Director Anne Sewitky’s sparkling biopic, which premiered at Sundance, Sonja: The White Swan tells the untold story of the ice queen’s meteoric rise in the sport and screen, her box office smashes, her glamorous lifestyle, as well as her struggles in the spotlight as it began to fade. Never a quitter, the brash mogul forged a dizzying career to become one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
Ambitious, glamorous and iconic, here are more stars to check out from Hollywood’s past that remain unforgettable today:
A Star is Born (1937)
Directed by William Wellman. Before Lady Gaga, Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland…Oscar® winner Janet Gaynor stars in the original Hollywood tale of a rising young star who finds fame and fortune in Tinseltown, but soon learns that success comes with a price.
The Blue Angel (1930)
Directed by Josef von Sternberg. Marlene Dietrich was launched to stardom with her iconic performance in this stylish melodrama directed by Josef von Sternberg, as a sultry cabaret singer who leads a sexually-repressed professor to his downfall.
Bird of Paradise (1932)
Directed by King Vidor. An exotic tale of romance in the South Seas starring Dolores del Rio at her alluring height, as the daughter of an island chief who elopes with young sailor Joel McCrea. This wildly erotic and thrilling adventure classic is one of the great romances from Hollywood’s Golden Age.
A Farewell to Arms (1932)
Directed by Frank Borzage. Oscar® winner Helen Hayes co-stars with Gary Cooper in this ravishing adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s celebrated novel. This powerful wartime romantic drama was nominated for multiple Academy Awards including Best Picture, directed with lavish Classic Hollywood style by Frank Borzage.
Diary of a Lost Girl (1929)
Directed by G.W. Pabst. This searing erotic drama of sexuality and revenge was the final collaboration between star Louise Brooks and her Pandora’s Box director G.W. Pabst, forever establishing Brooks as one of the true icons of the silent screen.
Way Down East (1920)
Directed by D.W. Griffith. A blockbuster hit of the silent era, this epic romantic melodrama set in small-town America stars Lillian Gish in one of her finest performances, and features the celebrated chase across an ice floe that represents Gish’s total commitment to her art.
Of Human Bondage (1934)
Directed by John Cromwell Bette Davis scored a Best Actress Oscar® nomination for her erotic yet malevolent performance that launched her to the forefront of Hollywood’s leading ladies, in this adaptation of the Somerset Maugham story of a vulgar waitress who takes advantage of a young medical student.
Scarlet Street (1945)
Directed by Fritz Lang. This fatalistic Film Noir classic stars Joan Bennett (whose long career stretched from the silent era to Dark Shadows and Suspiria) as the femme fatale who lures meek banker Edward G. Robinson down the path of destruction, in one of legendary director Fritz Lang’s best American films.